Rylan and Erik delivered the new-to-us lathe at 4AM this morning. Since this is now probably our most dangerous piece of equipment, we are going to be strict about only allowing trained people to use it. If you want to be in the first group of trained people, sign up at: https://www.picatic.com/event14782110102438
$50.
NOTE: This is a two day course, two hours each day, for a total of four hours.

Learn to make soap at Saskatoon Techworks. ALL required materials will be supplied for this workshop, and you will go home with uncured soap that can be cut into about nine generous-sized bars of Hand-Crafted Natural Soap.

You will learn about the chemical reaction that takes place when making soap.

You will learn how to develop your own recipes and to evaluate existing recipes.

A few years ago I built a “Terrorist Bomb” for RLBC to use as a paintball game. It was simple. It was hacked together out of a variety of parts I had lying around. It was also a huge hit.

aka “Game Timer”

After that, we started talking about a grander scheme. The next game would consist of three bases with buttons and lights. Initially it was traffic lights, but it eventually became the light pole we ended up using. The biggest problem with this sort of “capture the flag” type game is having referees to keep score. If we could use technology to keep score, it frees up the refs so they can focus on fair gameplay. I had been using XBee devices in my “day job,” so decided they would work great for communication between the bases and the command centre. Continue reading Base Commanders (Paintball Game)

When switching back and forth between calibres on my Lee Pro 1000 reloading press, I often have bits and pieces strewn around my reloading bench. Now, I tolerate a fair bit of disorder, but sometimes it gets to be a bit much. So… today’s quick project was to help organize my mess a bit better.

The parts I switch out when changing between 9mm and .38spl are the turret with the dies installed, the shell plate, and the case slider. (Also the case feeder, but that’s too big to store this way.)

After acquiring a used Cubex Duo 3D printer, I discovered the heated-bed did not actually heat. The PID controller for the unit appeared to be functional and the relay could be heard actuating, however upon testing with a DMM I found the relay to not be contacting. Opening the PID controller revealed a cheapo chinese relay which made me think if there was a better way: an SSR would be quieter (silent) and more reliable than a mechanical relay in the given application. With the help of Scott Walde I sourced an SSR and tested the PID output with a resistor and LED to prove an SSR would work. I drilled and tapped a hole to attach the SSR to the PID enclosure and applied thermal paste; the enclosure is the heatsink for the SSR. I bypassed what was the chinese relay and used the PID connections to wire up the now externally mounted SSR. It works perfectly and any concern on heat dissipation of the SSR is nullified in practice: the heat from the SSR is only enough to take the chill off the metal enclosure, not warm it up.

PID Controller with cheap Chinese relay.Testing with an LED in place of the relay coilModifiedBack togetherSSR with wires soldered onAll wired upIt works!Goes back together the same wayDone!